Scorpion-tail
Location
Native Plants
Heliotropium angiospermum
- Common Name: Scorpion-tail (other common names: Butterfly Heliotrope)
- Scientific Name: Heliotropium angiospermum
- Family Name: Boraginaceae
- Origin: Florida native
- Height: 1’ – 3’
- Width: 3’ – 4’
- Growth: fast
- Zone: 8A – 11
- Light Needs: Full sun to Partial shade
- Salt Tolerance: moderately
- Soil/PH/Texture: prefers sandy or rocky soils, alkaline (pH 7.9 – 8.5)
- Soil Moisture: medium and regular watering to dry
- Drought Tolerance: high
- Pests/Diseases: no serious pests or diseases
- Growing Conditions: easy to grow and low maintenance, can become a little weedy looking
- Characteristics: The showy flowers appear on a curved terminal spike and are white, under 1”, look like a lobster’s tail, and bloom year-round. The fruit are clusters of 4 inconspicuous tiny nutlets.
- Propagation: by seed and softwood cuttings, (self-sows freely – deadhead if you do not want it spreading by seeds)
- Wildlife: attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds
- Facts: In the Bahamas an Virgin Islands this plant is sometimes referred to by the names Bright-Eye Bush or Eye-bright because the Scorpions-tail leaves were dried to a powder and used for different medical uses such as; skin problems, burns, sores and even in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic it has been used in a decoction of the leaves for cleaning a baby’s skin at birth. Take caution though because there have been deaths associated with overdosing on the decoction as well. The leaves have a emmenagogue action so when orally taken it stimulates menstruation and causes abortion in pregnancies.
- Designer Considerations: use as a groundcover or small shrub, and great in a wildflower, butterfly, or native garden.
